Striving for Science C79 pt1

These words hung in the air, silencing the entire room.

Dao Nian looked at everyone with a blank expression, and everyone looked at Shen Chang'an and Dao Nian with a blank expression.

Oh no, how could they forget this?

The Sir too, he insisted on pretending to be disabled in front of Chang'an, now they can't lie, and they can't tell the truth either. With their identities, they are famous and powerful righteous gods when they go out, how embarrassing would it be to lie?

"Chang'an." Old Zhao poked his head out of the kitchen, smiling and beckoning to Shen Chang'an, "Come help me with something."

Shen Chang'an glanced at everyone who looked uncomfortable, turned and walked towards the kitchen. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and when they looked at the Master again, he was already lying comfortably on the soft sofa, as if it had nothing to do with him.

How could there be such a shameless Heavenly Dao in the world?!

***

Shen Chang'an walked into the kitchen and was stuffed with a bowl of fried dried fish by Uncle Zhao. He remembered that Dao Nian seemed to like this too, so he took the bowl and was about to go out.

"Chang'an, wait." Old Zhao called out to Shen Chang'an, pointed to the small stool next to him, and motioned for him to sit down, "Let's have a few words."

Shen Chang'an had no choice but to sit down with the bowl, nibbling on the dried fish while waiting for Uncle Zhao to speak.

"You know about Sir's legs?"

That Dao Nian's legs suddenly recovered? Shen Chang'an nodded.

"We were also surprised when Mr. Dao Nian suddenly stood up and walked beside you." Uncle Zhao sighed, "For all these years, Mr. Dao Nian has been relying on a wheelchair to get around, we've seen it, and it's been painful for us. But you know Mr. Dao Nian's personality, he doesn't like to talk or interact with people, we've all gotten used to it over the years."

"Today, seeing him suddenly stand up, we were all shocked, but we didn't dare to show it in front of Mr. Dao Nian, afraid that he would think we cared about him being in a wheelchair before." Uncle Zhao sighed again, "Chang'an, Mr. Dao Nian has lived a hard and lonely life, until you came to his side, he finally had some life, I hope you can spend more time with him in the future, and care for him more. Sometimes, when a person is sick, it's not their body that's sick, but their heart."

Listening to Uncle Zhao's words, Shen Chang'an forgot to eat the dried fish, he stared at Uncle Zhao, and after a long time, he said, "Thank you for taking care of Dao Nian all these years."

No wonder they acted as if everything was normal in front of Dao Nian, it was to take care of Dao Nian's feelings. Realizing this, he felt a little regretful, he shouldn't have asked that question just now.

Maybe it was because Dao Nian's legs had recovered, which made him so happy that he lost his mind, and he spoke without thinking.

"Although we are technically employer and employee, our relationship has gone beyond that of boss and worker over the years." Uncle Zhao put a plate of cut fruit platter in Shen Chang'an's hand, "I'm glad you're by sir's side."

Shen Chang'an held a bowl of dried fish and a plate of fruit: "I'm also glad to have met Dao Nian."

"Then take the fruit and fish out and eat with sir, we've already eaten since you haven't been back for a while, your dishes will be ready soon, I'll scoop out the soup when it's done."

"Okay." Shen Chang'an nodded and walked out of the kitchen.

Uncle Zhao, with a thick smile on his face, patted his chest with a sigh of relief, he had finally managed to fool Chang'an. Anyway, he had never said that sir's legs were wrong, he only said that he relied on a wheelchair to get around, so it wasn't a lie.

This is a kind and friendly selective description.

***

Dao Nian, whose legs had recovered, except for the first day when he excitedly went out for a walk, and accidentally walked to the Yellow Springs Road just like Shen Chang'an, he didn't like to walk anymore. He either stayed in the sofa or leaned back on the sofa, his whole body exuded a big lazy character.

To get Dao Nian to move around more, Shen Chang'an piled all the packages he bought on Double Eleven in front of Dao Nian before going to work.

"I'll trouble you with all this." Shen Chang'an said to Dao Nian as he changed his shoes, "Remember to go for a walk in the garden after your nap."

Dao Nian looked at the mountain of delivery packages: "..."

In front of Shen Chang'an, he reached out and opened one or two. Once Shen Chang'an left, he put the packages down and turned to look at Shen Tu and Yu Lei.

Yu Lei was about to step forward to help, but Shen Tu stopped him: "Sir, this was something Chang'an personally asked you to do. You said you agreed to open them all yourself, wouldn't it be a bit inappropriate for us to do it?"

Dao Nian stared at him expressionlessly for a while. Just when Yu Lei thought the sir would get angry, he saw the sir continue to open the packages with a straight face. Later, he found the speed too slow and even used magic.

But Mr. Shen really knows how to buy things. Shampoo, shower gel, pajamas, slippers, and even a back scratcher?

What's the use of buying this thing?

Humans' desire to buy things is truly strange.

After opening the huge pile of packages, Dao Nian sat down on the lounge chair and just lay there for the afternoon. When Shen Chang'an came home from work, he pointed to the pile of things that had been sorted and categorized on the floor, "All done."

"Thank you for your hard work." Shen Chang'an stuffed the snacks he bought on the way into Dao Nian's hand, "Did you go for a walk?"

"Yes." Lying had become a natural instinct for the Heavenly Dao Lord.

"Oh――" Shen Chang'an drew out the tone, "So your WeChat exercise steps only show over three hundred steps, is it a problem with the phone system?"

Dao Nian's expression didn't change: "I didn't bring my phone when I went out."

"Really, you're not lying to me?" Shen Chang'an looked at Dao Nian with a smile.

Dao Nian: "..."

Seeing him remain silent, Shen Chang'an took off his thick coat, pretending not to know he was lying, and took a deep breath towards the kitchen: "What is Uncle Zhao making, it smells so good."

Dao Nian: "..."

That night, after dinner, Shen Chang'an suggested going for a walk, and Dao Nian obediently followed, not even bothering to find an excuse to refuse.

Wuming City has many mountains and rivers, and it's easy for fog to form on winter nights. Shen Chang'an put his hands in his coat pockets, turned his head to look at Dao Nian who was slowly following behind him, "Your leg just recovered, you can't walk too far, but you can't stay still every day. You..."

Shen Chang'an was helpless, how did he develop such a lazy personality?

Shen Chang'an had read an article about psychology in college, which said that there's a kind of laziness that's not inherent, but rather the person lacks passion for life and has no expectations, so nothing can arouse their interest or enthusiasm.

He was worried that Dao Nian was in this situation.

They hadn't walked two laps around the garden when the fog dampened their hair. Seeing the fog getting thicker, Shen Chang'an said, "Let's go back inside."

"Okay." Dao Nian walked behind Shen Chang'an. He turned his head to look at the thick fog. There seemed to be something in the fog, which disappeared under his gaze.

***

"Master, Shen Chang'an is not dead." The Pig Elder said in a trembling voice, "Not only is he not dead, but Hell has begun to suspect our Beast Tribe because of the evil beast being released."

The man in the gray robe didn't speak. Anger appeared on his compassionate face. How could Dao Nian be there?

According to his calculations, it shouldn't be possible.

"Shut up." The man in the gray robe said, "You used the fox tribe's aura to do this. Even if they suspect you in the end, they will only think it was the work of the deceased Hu Ming. You panic over such a small matter, what great things can you accomplish?"

The man in the gray robe waved his sleeve, sending the pig yao flying out of the house. "Get out, don't disturb my cultivation."

The pig yao's face contorted with anger, but he finally retreated, swallowing his humiliation. If only, if only...

He regretted his greed back then, for boarding this ship with no way to disembark.

***

After waking up in the morning, Shen Chang'an distributed the Double Eleven items that Dao Nian had personally unpacked to everyone in the villa, then happily went to work.

After confirming that Shen Chang'an was far away, Dao Nian turned to Shen Tu and said, "I want to shop online."

"Shop... online?" Shen Tu was stunned for a moment before he finally understood. "Sir, what do you want to buy?"

"A mobile phone pedometer." Dao Nian said with a serious expression. "I want to buy the kind that charges itself, not the hand-cranked version." He then handed his phone to Shen Tu. "Go out and walk around a few times before coming back."

Shen Tu: "..."

As the Heavenly Dao, how can you do anything to avoid a little work?